And in the raven I fell
by comebacksirius
Summary: "Whether we fall by ambition, blood, or lust, like diamonds we are cut with our own dust." Femslash Bellatrix/Hermione HGBL Darkfic : imprisonment, abuse, humiliation. M
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : This fanfic features the abduction and sequestration of Hermione Granger inside the walls of Malfoy Manor and is set during book seven. There will be descriptions of abuse, humiliation and torture. **

**(Quote in the summary is from John Webster, contemporary author of the Immortal bard.)**

******This is femslash : Bellatrix/Hermione. **You've been warned.

My wand had been ripped away from my pocket; blood was pounding at my temples, a constraining grip forcing me onto my knees. A punch in the face was my reward when I tried to struggle; dark figures were excitedly hovering over me. Not many, but enough to render my eyesight troubled and my mind dizzy by their quick movements around me. I was attempting to crawl away, hopelessly, knowing it was not of any use. The wall I was pressed on was my last safe haven, until strong hands wrapped me in their clutches and shoved me away, pulling me fiercely to stand up.

I was displaying my last weak struggles as I attempted to walk, while being dragged into another room. A large door screeched violently with the blow that had smashed it open. A thrust in my back made me fall down in a stone staircase that was opening to a dark room; my head crashed again and again on the marble steps as I rolled down flights of stairs. My skull finally hit the ground one more time at the bottom, this last pain cutting through me. My broken arm and twisted ankle lay limply on the floor. Nausea hit my stomach and surged up to the back of my throat while the smell of mold on the walls reached me and flooded over my senses. My mouth opened slowly and painfully to spit blood.

xXx

I try to sit back against the wet, stinky texture of the wall. I don't see anything, all fell silent from the moment the door shut close after my fall. I try not to retch when I think of how I arrived here, of the werewolf's filthy fingers and breath as he took me hostage and forced me into a big junk bag before side-along apparating me into this infernal place. The excited looks Lucius Malfoy and his wife had had on their faces when the filthy scumbag showed them his catch had been simply disgusting.

xXx

"We have Harry Potter's friend!" Malfoy, this bastard of a man exclaims all joyous.

"Splendid ! Bella, come here? You won't believe what I got here, oh how our Lord will be pleased with us!" The hateful man is losing all his composure and looks like he has just been thrown a suprise birthday party.

"Let's not forget who caught the little lamb though Malfoy. I think I deserve a little something for my trouble."

The nerve of her capturer, adding to her demise by humiliating her into being an unworthy object of trade. Hermione is a sensible girl enough to know she is better off if she keeps her mouth shut, however. Violent shudders of fear are overcoming her entire body as she waits for the scene to unfold in front of her sorrowful eyes.

"Yes yes, Greyback, for the love of Merlin. Deal with my elf, he'll give you something you won't be dissatisfied of."

She experiences sudden relief as the monstrous assassin leaves the scenery. Just momentarily, until her panic comes back, ten times more overwhelming when a dark haired and tall witch enters the room, characteristic with her unique slanting gait as she advances towards her. The infamous murderer and torturer takes the sight of her in from head to toe, eyes feverish and wild, a crooked smile widening on her gaunt face.

"Excellent, Lucius! I assume this was not your doing, am I right?"

"Well no, but it is undeniably my house she was brought to, and the idea of hiring this inane beast, Greyback, to do the dirty work, was also mine." Lucius brags on, beaming, and visibly extremely pleased with himself. "You know what having this girl here means, right Bella?"

"Well of course you scarce tool. Do you think me daft? I know very well the possible outcome of having her here. Our Lord will indeed be pleased, but you do remember what he said? He insisted not to bother him unless it is for the boy."

"Yes I do know that Bella, and I do remember a time, also, where you used to pay me proper respect, as your elder and your sister's husband."

"You lost your respectability when you lost your wand _Lucious_. Now go back to neatly folding your laundry like the proper little housewife you are. I need you out of my sight if I have the intent of working properly."

The imperious silver blonde haired man makes quick threatening steps towards his sister-in-law, raising a lengthy menacing finger and halting it in mid-air only millimetres from her face.

"Pay attention to your words, Bellatrix, or..."

The powerful yet crazed witch is obviously resisting an urge to laugh straight in the man's face. A few high pitched chuckles escape her lips before she smirks and leans even closer to him, their noses almost colliding with one another.

"Don't be ridiculous, Luce." She hisses. "What can you possibly do to me? You're just a spineless man that has lost his only source of power. Mark my words. Get. OUT. And don't do ANYTHING until needed."

He scrapes past her, making sure he throws her a bit off balance as he does, exiting the room and taking his thunderous steps somewhere up to the second floor.

"Bella, do you need me to do something?" Narcissa Malfoy asks her sister in an attempt to calm her down after the argument with Lucius.

"Yes, Cissy dear." She answers resting an arm on her sister's back shortly, smiling fakily. "I will need you to practice a small inspection on our guest before we bring her into her royal surroundings in the cellar. You'll have to check if she doesn't have anything hidden in her pockets or somewhere else on her person. Please undress her also and the elf will bring her her sumptuous new clothes."

She snaps her fingers and a tiny female House elf appears. She gives her order to it before it disappears again.

She then turns her back to Narcissa and Hermione unexpectedly and with a small flick of her wand, opens the door to what seems to be a grand dining room.

"Pettigrew, you are listening behind doors again, you are too afraid of being in a room with us but you are too sneaky to stay in your proper place is that it?" Bellatrix's tone of voice is soft and it could seem gentle to somebody who didn't know her, but the threat is underlying in it. "While you're here, go down in the cellar and check if everything's in order and nothing is where it shouldn't be. Reinforce the security measures and come back here to tell me when you're done." She orders, used to rule everything and everyone in her world. Peter Pettigrew bends his head at her. "Yes ma'am, it will be done immediately ma'am." He flees the room like on rails and there is no sound coming from there a second later.

"Perfect. Go ahead with what I told you Cissy."

Narcissa Malfoy is visibly repulsed from the task at hand, as if touching Hermione would make her dirty. She, nonetheless, drops to her knees in front of Hermione and starts shuffling through her pockets, avoiding the places in which her blood has spilled from mistreatment while she was being trashed around in the bag. She finds nothing special : some scrolls of paper, a quill that has split in two and that has stained the inner pocket of her vest, some thread, glasses in their box and a small book she knows very well from having read the stories in it to Draco many times in a row as a child : _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_.

Hermione does not move an inch while the blonde haired woman rummages in her pockets. She once in a while glances at Bellatrix and the witch never lowers her wand while she supervises her sister's ministrations. Hermione sure has a real Gryffindor courage and temper but she is not red-blooded or suicidal enough to attempt anything at that point. Her wounds make her ache enough as it is and she does not want another collection of them to match. Mrs. Malfoy has finished searching her pockets and she starts disrobing her. She is wearing muggle clothing and she understands by the temporarily puzzled look on Narcissa's otherwise straight unemotional face that the woman is not accustomed to it. She struggles for a few seconds with the zipper of her lilac jumper before finally achieving to take it off. She is wearing a black tank top under it with no bra because she had been preparing to join Harry and Ron in their tent to sleep before she was kidnapped. When Narcissa frees her of her jacket, she hears a shifting noise at her left and looks up. Creepy Bellatrix is looking at her, but her gaze is resting nowhere near her face; it is fixed on her heaving chest. She flinches at the thought this horrid person is leering at her and she makes a move to conceal this area of her body. She is stopped immediately by a strong hold on her arms as Narcissa stares straight at her with a raised eyebrow and a look in her blue eyes that means : "Don't you even think about moving, filthy little thing." She lowers her eyes again, wanting to close them to not see this happening but she fights this temptation because that would mean lowering her guard, instead she looks at Narcissa's hands as the witch starts unbuttoning her jeans. She glances again at the dark figure still standing there and she sees her briefly wet her lips, now ogling at the lower section of her body. The whole scene is silent however. Narcissa pulls firmly on the denim material and Hermione understands she has to lift her ass so the pants can be pulled down. She cooperates: there is nothing else to do. She is now in her knickers and tank top and she can see all the blue and red marks on her arms and legs; there are small cuts and bruises everywhere and she refrains from sobbing. The woman in front of her is now forcing her to raise her two arms so she can pass the top over her head and toss it to the other side of the room for the elf to pick up.

By then, Bellatrix is salivating and not focusing strongly on pointing her wand at her anymore, she is totally wrapped in her lust and she smacks her lips soundly; they are now dry. When she hears the noise and turns her pretty head towards her sister, Narcissa Malfoy's mouth gapes open almost inelegantly, something very uncharacteristic of the usually gracious witch. She sees the darkened orbs and the desire flickering in them and decides to break the tension. "Bella..." Her sister seems to shake herself out of her trance and she looks at her. "Is this sufficient? I don't think I have to go all the way in undressing the prisoner right?"

"Of course." The usually self-confident Bellatrix appears still troubled and she looks like she is searching for her words. "This will suffice Cissy, you'll dress her up now." She snaps her fingers again and the House elf immediately appears with a fresh set of clothing, including a simple white t-shirt and some sort of grey discoloured sweatpants.

They are hurriedly put on her by Cissy while Bellatrix dismisses the elf, and then the Dark Lord's most persistent follower is instantly pulling her up and roughly bringing her along and through a corridor, kicking her when she does not move fast enough. "MOVE, Mudblood. Do I look like I want to play around?" A vicious kick is inflicted to her arse. She almost drops to the ground but her persecutor holds a tight grip on her and she doesn't let go until they get to the door. Bellatrix pushes a quivering Pettigrew out of her way. "Everything is in order ma'am." She barely acknowledges him and the next second the door of the cellar is blasted open and Hermione is falling into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N : ****four letters… S.M.U.T, you've been warned**

-x-

_Vamos vamos mi amor_

_Me gusta mucho tu sabor_

_No no no no tu corazón_

_Mucho mucho tu limón_

_Dame de tu fruta_

_Vamos mi amor . . ._

_Te quiero puta !_

_Te quiero puta !_

_-x-_

_Come on, come on, my love_

_I really like your flavor_

_Not not not not your heart_

_Really really like your lemon_

_Give me your fruit_

_Come on, my love . . ._

_I love you, whore!_

_I love you, whore!_

_(Rammstein, Te quiero puta)_

-x-

When I look up, panting, my breath short and heavy, I understand that cursed Bellatrix Lestrange has locked the door; everything around me is pitch black. My eyes take a long moment to adjust to the darkness and when I recover myself, the pounding in my head comes back full speed; blood pulsates at my temples and I slam my knuckle on the floor in rage. That's when I discover I can't move one of my arms: the bone is broken. With all the fury I can muster, I shout to the roof of my closed cage: "BELLATRIX LESTRANGE, COME BACK HERE! FIGHT ME LIKE YOU MEAN IT, YOU BITCH!"

Only silence answers me. I rub my foot with the hand that is still functioning. My ankle hurts terribly and I feel that it is already swelling. I would kill for my wand right now. I drag myself to search around my cell for anything that could help me get out of here. There is not one single item I could use to defend myself against my aggressors. No rock or stick to use as a weapon and no needle or nail to unlock the door with. I sigh and let despair wash over me. I bring my legs close to my stomach and my head falls between them. I dry my tears on the fabric that covers my knee and gradually fall into a fitful sleep.

xXx

In my dream, a creature I cannot identify is running towards me. It is about to attack me, I sense it. I hear its screams and I see its claws stretching towards me. The noises of the menacing forest I picture in my mind mix with the ones of footsteps in the distance. I scream and emerge from slumber in a sweat. The nightmare fades into the darkness but I realise the footsteps were real. A feminine figure has halted at the bottom of the stairs and looks at me with a somewhat startled gaze. She regains her usual nerve quickly.

"Now, now, mudblood. Were we having bad dreams? There's no reason to, you're perfectly safe here. So safe nobody will find you. And especially not your little friends. If they come to get you we'll take care of them first."

I see red.

"Dream on, Lestrange. If the Order comes here it will be the end of your little golden moment of tyranny." I spit out the words.

"You weren't so brave upstairs in front of everyone. What makes you think you can be a cheeky-assed little pest when you're alone in my presence?"

"Just my complete lack of respect for you."

"You dare..." Bellatrix's voice is dangerously low. She comes closer and leans towards me, while I back further away into the wall. Her face is almost touching mine and she breathes into my face. Her lips come near my neck and she whispers a single word into my ear : "Crucio."

I had no idea her wand had been pointed at me the whole time; a jolt of electricity courses through my entire body and I begin to shake uncontrollably. I clench my teeth whilst waves after waves of mind-blowing pain pass over me. When she releases me from the spell, I don't even feel the difference it makes; the ache is still extreme in every part of my body, and it's my arm and foot that hurt the most.

Keeping my eyes closed, I hope that when I open them she'll be gone, like my nightmare. I feel something fresh and unnatural wrapping itself around my wounds and, all of a sudden, it's like they were never there. I finally take the courage to open my eyes and I look down at my body, it looks like nothing ever happened to me. Just the stench of the room I am in is the reminder of my condition, and then the dark eyes still looking at me.

"Why?"

"Why did I curse you or why did I heal you? I think you know the answer to the first one, but what did I heal you for? It's simple, I need you to be in your optimal shape."

I stare at her, not understanding. She uses a spell to force me into a standing position, which I can fortunately resume with my healed leg, and magically binds my wrists together behind my back.

"Walk." She bellows.

She didn't really need to order me that; my legs are moving as if of their own accord, enchanted by her practised wand. I head towards the door like on autopilot and step out into the corridor when she flings it open. My eyes blink rapidly because of the sudden light and I look around to see if there are any other Death Eaters around. Not a soul. As we proceed through a few rooms and up the stairs that go to the second floor, it comes forward more and more that I am alone with Lestrange in the manor. I wonder how they can leave their hideout almost undefended. If the order knew where I was, they would probably have far less trouble getting in than one would have thought. If only that could happen...

"Good girl! You do just what I tell you to do, how precious." Her voice is caressing as we reach a high doorframe.

"It's not like I really have a choice." I angrily retort through gritted teeth.

"Exactly, you don't. It's true you're a fast learner…"

"I think this room will be perfect for us right now. What a beautiful sight we have, don't we?"

She forces me to walk until I am in front of the window and I see that there is a thick mist surrounding the house and a few sinister trees bending in the autumnal wind.

"Why don't you lay down, my dear? You look so tired..." I try to ignore her. She smacks her lips and looks at me with a raised eyebrow, as if to question if I really want to lose my life by not obeying. I feel the spell enslaving my legs has been lifted, but not the one that holds my hands captive. She looks at me with hungry eyes and her nostrils are slightly flaring out from her palpable excitement. I remember the way she has ogled at me the night before and I take a sharp breath. Surely she does not intend to...

There is not much I can do without a wand and without the employ of my hands, so, in spite of my uneasiness, I sit on the large bed standing in the middle of the room.

"Do you know why I brought you here?"

I shake my head.

"No? How innocent."

Before my eyes, she sheds her outer robe, revealing a tight corset that is purposefully jamming her breasts together and layers of black tulle petticoats covering her muscular thighs.

"And now?"

At first I gaze wide-eyed at her but I quickly look away to show I am not interested in her display.

"Ever since I saw your bewildered look when you were helpless on the floor in the hallway, I've wanted to screw you. I can do things to you you'd never have dared imagine in your wildest dreams, and I need your dirty little mudblood mouth to service me in return."

"Are you fucking kidding? There is no way in hell!"

She just smirks and moves nearer until she is close enough to sit on the bed with me.

"Do you want to know a secret?" She whispers to me, leaning down closer and closer. "I can be rather convincing at times…" I look down at the wand she's still holding. "And I don't mean with my wand. I have plenty of other ways of persuasion." Her smirk is the definition of indecent, and she laughs slowly, a deep infectious belly laugh.

Unhurriedly, without taking her eyes off me, she sticks her prized wand into the back of her corset. My mind starts racing. For a split second, I think about jumping on her and attempting to disarm her, but something in her eyes stops me.

They are so fiery and intense, like the ones of a wild animal, and when I stare at them I am instantly reminded of my dream. I have the persistent feeling that she can anticipate each and every one of my movements, that she reads my thoughts as clear as day. In fact, the more I look at her, the more I feel weakened, like I can't think about anything else than her. I am almost hypnotized by the way she gazes deeply into my eyes, so much that I have the impression my brains are liquefying, and ultimately failing me. I remember how McGonagall had defined to us the Confondus charm in school.

"There's no need to fight…" She speaks softly as her small hands start roaming the sides of my upper body. Our thighs are nearly touching. "It's better to just… let go." She finishes in one blow of breath.

Suddenly we are kissing, or rather, she's kissing me. Her lips are supple and delicate, almost enticing. She is softly tilting my head back, a hand on my neck, and she pushes her tongue into my mouth. My eyes are closed and all I think about is Ron. It was my desire that he would do something similar to me, while I was away with him and Harry. I was growing more and more fond of him, and not just in a friendly way, and if I could have stayed with them, I would still have good hope that he returns my feelings someday. Ron.

I was wondering if I could ever see him again.

A hand on my thigh brings me back to reality. This is most definitely not Ron, and I am definitely not in a tent in the middle of a field. I turn my head away from her. My eyes well up with tears. "I can't do this." I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Maybe, but you will." For my captor, it's as simple as that. The tears fall freely by then. She does a shushing sound, and wipes some of my tears off from my cheek.

Suddenly her no sense tenderness hits a nerve. She's planning on raping me and she's playing nice all the while? No way! Bat shit crazy old Lestrange!

I fall into hysterics and yell everything that crosses my mind.

"Stop touching me! What the fuck is wrong with you? What the fuck am I here for anyway? What's the point? You don't plan on using me as bait, and you don't plan on killing me. Am I just supposed to be your toy to play with? Sod it, Lestrange, I'm not playing along!"

I feel the slap before seeing it coming. I gasp from the hard blow and put my hand up to touch my burning cheek. I see her furious and panting, looking at me as if it is the first time anybody dared talk to her like that – maybe it is – and all I want to do is kill her. An animal instinct moves me when I leap on her and throw her off balance. I want to run but I don't even get the chance. In no time, she grabs me and throws me to the floor. She's way stronger than I am, even without our wands, and I am still handcuffed. She's standing between me and the door. Bile rises in the back of my throat; the impact with the floor was solid.

"Will you shut the fuck up and stay fucking still now?"

I don't answer. There is a moment of silence during which we both look at each other in challenge. I look away first, and it's like if I'm admitting her superiority on me. Damn it.

I close my eyes and think: Merlin, let something happen and take me away from this hellhole, I beg you.

But as with most prayers, mine goes unanswered.

"You don't want me to touch you, fine. But we still have me to take care of."

She pulls her thick layers of coal black skirts up to reveal a trimmed triangular patch of ebony hair, covering her most secret area. My eyes widen in shock. She has foregone underwear it seems. I can't help thinking it's absolutely filthy.

"Service me!" she bellows, her eyes blazing with a no-fooling-with-me look and a severe expression on her square jaw.

I back away slightly, my eyes flashing between her face, under her skirt, and her face again. Never has a woman showed me these intimate parts of her and I had never thought one would do so either. I had rather wished not to have a creepy murderer asking me for oral sex instead of my husband-to-be.

I calculate once again my chances of running away. Yet again, I am confronted with the terrible realisation : there is none.

She has closed her eyes, waiting, but I don't do anything. Her smouldering dark eyes snap open and she gives me a homicidal glance.

"Are you deaf? Do you prefer to be tortured? I'll give you three seconds to choose. 1… 2…"

I really don't want to be tortured again. I know I am too weak and that if it keeps on going like that, I won't survive until the Order finds and rescues me. I reluctantly approach my head between the Death Eater's legs and freeze. What am I supposed to do? Hell, it is my first time as a whore so some directions would be appreciated!

"I… sorry, but… I… don't know what you want me to do."

"First, call me ma'am. Show some respect."

I wrinkle my nose in disapprobation.

"Do it, or…" She looks so crazy and immerged in her power trip that I feel the necessity to comply.

"Ma'am, I have no idea what to do." The title I use to refer to her almost brings a smile to her lips.

"Alright, let me show you."

She grabs a fistful of my hair, harshly, and pushes me onto her sex, my face buried in it.

"Eat. it." Two simple words that, put together, can chill my blood.

I shudder and open my mouth. She doesn't even wait a half second before pulling me against her once again, the warmth of my opened mouth circling the spot she wants to be taken care of.

"I thought you were intelligent. Go ahead, use your tongue."

I close my eyes and try to imagine I am in a dream. That this isn't really happening. I lap at the area between her folds and suck slightly on her bud. I am disgusted of being reduced to doing this to her, to being forced to indulge into sexual acts, to have to touch someone intimately for the first time against my own will.

I feel numb and lifeless, I don't know anymore if this is better than Crucio. It is harder mentally than physically. It is sickening, on the overall.

"That's right, keep eating it, good kitty."

I cannot believe she is calling me a kitty. If this is the milk then I might as well starve my whole life.

And she keeps on going with her dirty talk. "Exactly what I thought. You have it in you. It's innate for a Mudblood to be of such low nature. You have this whore blood in you, haven't you?"

I ignore her cruel remarks. I don't give a fuck what she thinks of me. I want to stay alive, it is the only thing that keeps me going. That, and the hope to see my friends' faces again.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. Bella sends you a kiss, and a crucio (you know you love it).**

**xXxXx**

_Ay que rico un dos tres_

_Sí te deseo otra vez_

_Pero no no no tu corazón_

_Más más más de tu limón_

_Querido_

_Dame de tu fruta_

_Dame de tu fruta_

_Vamos mi amor . . ._

_Te quiero puta!_

_Te quiero puta!_

_Ay que rico_

_-x-_

_Oh, so good, one, two, three_

_Yes, I want you once again_

_But not not not your heart_

_More more more of your lemon_

_Darling_

_Give me your fruit_

_Give me your fruit_

_Come on, my love . . ._

_I love you, whore!_

_I love you, whore!_

_Oh, so good_

-x-

I don't know how long it has been since I haven't seen the light of day, I don't know how many time I spent between those filthy walls, I don't remember how many hours, days, weeks ago it was that I reintegrated my cell. Could it be possible I have spent a month locked in here? Somehow it feels like it, but I have been fed four times through a little trap door since my wretched captor threw me back in here, if it had been a month, I wouldn't be alive to think about this. I marvel at the notion I am still able to formulate thoughts at all. I must have lost two or three pounds already since I arrived here, I am dirtier than I would ever have imagined, and the confinement is driving me insane. My last human contact was with...

I don't even want to think about it. But even that I could almost miss, being alone for such a long time is worse than the worst company.

As on cue, I hear a ruffling noise behind my door. Somebody's coming to visit me. I almost jump from anticipation, but I tell myself to calm down, it's certainly not a friendly guest.

Nope. It's Bellatrix. My first impulse is to tell her to bugger off and leave me to die alone but I hold back.

"How is it going in here, Her-mii-onne? Found some nice activities to spend your time? Developed a new talent for crosswords in the dust or counting on your fingers?"

"How long is it since I've been here?"

"Well... I don't see the problem in revealing that information to you. It's been a week, and you seem to keep up well. Not starving yet or anything?"

As I am about to retort that is none of her business, my stomach rumbles like on purpose.

"I see... Maybe you should join us for a casual dinner upstairs then, or are the rats counting on your company for tonight?"

I look at her as if she just told me she was getting a nose job to look like Voldemort. This just can't be the reason she came to see me. It's not as if I'm a guest of honour here or anything, she must have some crazy shit to put me through again.

I answer, weighing my words.

"I'm sorry, but as you pointed out, I'm quite busy with my new-found pastimes, so it would be nice of you to just get out of my sight."

I can't believe the poise with which she ignores my impertinence and her gentle tone of voice. "Are you sure? Do you want to spend another week caged in here like an animal? Don't you want to move your legs and get out of the cellar for a little while?"

I can't help thinking that the offer can be tempting, in my present situation. She notices my hesitation and takes that for an agreement to her little 'proposal'.

"Good, I'll reward you by allowing you to take a bath to be suitable for supper."

We arrive at a small bathroom on the main floor. It has no windows and is almost bare of objects. Only soap, a towel and the bath itself are in there.

"Isn't my sister nice? She set you all up for a safe and nice clean-up. We wouldn't want you to get hurt by trying to escape from a window or something. I shall leave you alone to wash off the dirt on yourself. Click your fingers when you want the elf to bring your new clothes. Unless you want me to stay to watch you..."

"No, you can leave... _dirty old maniacal freak_" I mutter when she finally closes the door and leaves me alone.

I undress and get in the tub, where I pull the tab for hot water. I sigh as I let the divine feeling of water and soap wash over me. I thoroughly rinse every part of my body - I really do need it - and let myself soak in the tub for as long as possible. As long as nobody comes to disturb me, I will take advantage of this rare luxury.

Two hours later, I feel I can't push back much longer the dreaded moment in which I need to come out of this safe haven to join Bellatrix and other Death Eater assholes, like she asked me to. I sigh and shake my head before clicking my fingers together, all wrapped up in my white towel.

A disgruntled looking elf appears. It has an innumerable amount of wrinkles around its eyes and on its face. It talks in a surprisingly grave voice for a female.

"Your clothing, missus." It slightly bows and disappears as quickly as it has come. Too fast for me to ask what the hell those clothes are. I was given a deep green velvet dress with such a wide cleavage that I first think it is for the back of the dress, but when I put it on, I see it can only go on front and that the cleavage line stops bellow my breasts, showing more skin than I ever have in public.

Of course, no underwear, I wouldn't have expected anything different coming from Bellatrix. Then, a pair of outrageously long black leather boots –that my mother would probably have called 'streetwalker boots'- are my second piece of attire. They are extremely tight and take forever to put on and strap up.

A high quality silver necklace was added to the list. On it are imprinted in gold letters the latin words _Sanguine puritatus credimus_. In blood purity we trust. I scowl in disgust and shove the fine piece of jewelry into the pocket of my new dress. I look at my reflection one last time in the mirror before I go. I am still Hermione, but something has died inside my eyes, maybe it is a little of my faith in humanity, maybe it is the innocence I still had, but something is definitely missing, something I had not realized I had before.

I shake the thought away, there's no point in dwelling over that, it will only make me sad, and they will take advantage of this weakness to get to me. I make a movement to open the door but when my hand approaches the handle, it 'magically' swings open. Lestrange was probably waiting for me the whole time I got dressed.

"Nice… Mudblood. I have such good taste." She seems very proud of herself and her choice. When I see how her gaze lingers on every inch of my skin exposed and on my curves, hugged by the contours of the dress, practically drooling over my looks, I wonder if she had hidden something in the bathroom to eye me up while I was naked. Considering who I'm dealing with, an assumption of incline to voyeurism wouldn't be too far fetched.

I look into her eyes and her somewhat guilty expression, mixed with undeniable arousal, are enough to convince me that she has, in fact, exactly done so.

"Enjoyed the show?" I ask with all the gall I am capable of.

Her jaw drops. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I raise my eyebrows, indicating beyond doubt that I don't believe her, and shrug my shoulders.

"If you say so."

A moment ago she seemed normal, that is if she is ever normal, but now she just saw something she didn't like and she suddenly looks like she's fuming.

"You didn't put the necklace on, you will follow my orders slut, or I will make you do so."

She raises a hand as if to hit me.

"Alright, alright!" I hurriedly take out the necklace and put it on.

I can't be bullied like this anymore, I can't take it. All the strength I thought I have just vanishes every time she threatens me. I feel so weak and helpless, and once again, I feel like crying.

She nods quietly and her scowl disappears. She seems to think that, in time, she'll just have to lift her little finger and I will do as she says, maybe that's what this is all about, she will brainwash me and turn me into a slave, and I will never recover the life I had before. She could have killed me a hundred times since I arrived here, yet she hasn't. She didn't even ask one single question about why Harry, Ron and I were on the run. She probably thinks we just went into hiding. If she only knew what we are up to…

"Dinner is all ready. You will sit next to me at the table, but you are not to utter a single word. If you do so, you can't even begin to consider the consequences of your actions. You are to stay respectful and put in your proper place. Don't peer at anyone and keep good table manners or, as I said, you'll be sorry."

She seizes my arm forcefully and shoves me in the direction of the spacious dining room of the Malfoys. Quite an assembly is already sat there. I instantly recognize Dolohov, the Death Eater we had obliviated during our encounter at the italian café in London. He looks like he has recovered his memory and sends me a deadly stare that would make anyone feel uncomfortable. At his left is sat Severus Snape, my ex potion professor, the one all Hogwarts school wants to kill, teachers included. He doesn't look in my direction and his gaze is fixed on a decoration on the table, he seems to be in deep thought. I truly hope this bastard will not talk to me because I don't think I'll be able to keep myself from retorting and disobeying Bellatrix.

Next to him is a blonde man, with a red striped business suit, quite old (does he dye his hair?), whom I don't know. He completely ignores mine and Bellatrix's arrival. He is talking to Lucius, who is sat opposite him at the table. Next to the blonde man, at one end of the table, are two middle-aged Death Eaters, who hold a striking resemblance to one another. One has slightly longer hair and is not shaved; the other's hair is greyer, with salt and pepper side whiskers coming down his cheeks, and a hint of moustache on his upper lip. Another difference in their appearance is that one has deep blue eyes, while the other has pale green ones, but they are unmistakably from the same family, the lines of their faces and their builds are identical. I can only assume they are the Lestrange brothers: Rodolphus and Rabastan. Both men are quite handsome, and when I think about all the inbreeding there must have been in their pureblood family, it surprises me. But then again, the same could be said about Draco's mother and aunt.

My eyes brush over Lucius Malfoy, I cannot stand to look at the git for too long (this aversion is one thing I seem to share with Bellatrix, how odd), before resting on his wife. She just looks like she doesn't fit at all in the picture of this Dark Lord fan group reunion. She isn't involved in any of the ongoing conversations and is concentrating on her folded hands with a focus that is very revealing of how she just doesn't want to be there. No set of nails can be that interesting. She is in her own house and still she seems totally out of place. One would imagine her attending mundane parties and aristocratic gatherings, but not an evening in the company of this kind of scum. The memory of the humiliation I went through when she was undressing me in front of her sister is still fresh and offensive to me, but I can't help to feel sorry for her. I don't really believe she has whole-heartedly chosen to be in her present situation.

Bellatrix makes me sit right in front of Dolohov, before sliding nonchalantly into the chair next to her sister. Thanks a lot, I feel like saying. This creep is now holding his knife as if he wants to break it in two and he won't stop looking at me, how nice. My former professor's eyes suddenly spring up and recognition dawns into his eyes. He doesn't seem disturbed by my presence here, just slightly startled. My mouth gapes open when I see him slowly considering my appearance and smirking. Dirty perv, I should have known there was something wrong with him when he taught us. All those weird detentions he gave like scrubbing the floor during hours on end while he looked at us and the way he kept disrupting his young female pupils when they talked about boys. I was the only one defending him in front of Harry and Ron and now I regret it, if I was bright, I should have seen through all his machinations.

I notice the seat next to me, the one which is supposed to be the place of honour of the table, is still empty. I worry it could be the one for their Master; I don't think I could bear having Voldemort next to me during a whole dinner. Not that I believe he would allow such a thing. I even wonder how Bellatrix made everyone accept my sitting there like one of them. It is totally illogical.

I am relieved –well relieved is still a strong word- when I see Draco Malfoy appear at the doorframe and take the vacant seat. He is silent and sombre. He looks like he hasn't slept in days. He seems to fear every one of the Death Eaters present because he avoids looking at them directly. When he glances at me, he quickly looks away and doesn't say anything. He must have known I was in the house. I wonder if he feels at least a little sorry for me, as a fellow Hogwarts student and somebody of his age, to see me in this condition, with his aunt holding my fate in her hands: the possibility of making me die, or live (but at what costs?).

Narcissa Malfoy is always overprotective with her son, something I had the occasion to remark even if I can count on one hand the times I saw the family reunited before, such as during train departures once in a blue moon and at the Quidditch cup three years ago. She communicates the feeling she only lives for him, I don't know what she would have done, if like her sister, she had stayed without child.

"Everything is fine, Draco?" She asks with deep concern in her cerulean eyes.

"Yes, mother." He sticks to the strict minimum, visibly no wanting to talk.

She seems reassured and, after one meaningful look of disapprobation towards me, she resumes staring at her perfectly polished nails again.

Similarly to the system at Hogwarts, the arrival of the last awaited guest automatically triggers the serving of the food. Cristal glasses fill to the brim with rich red wine, I'm surprised both Draco's and mine do also. The plates fill up with delicious smelling entrees that consist in a large chunk of red meat, with steamed vegetables and rosemary mashed potatoes on the side. There is also hot pumpkin pottage served next to the main meal. I wonder why they serve it at the same time but I assume it is for the guests that don't like one of the two dishes or prefer to start with the meat. Bellatrix looks like she is starving and hasn't eaten for days, though I should be the one that's famished. She attacks her potatoes with enthusiasm and finishes them in only three bites. She swallows the lot with a large gulp of wine. She looks sideways at me and I realise I had been waiting for her permission to start eating too. She motions towards my plate to indicate I can. I feel disgusted at myself for actually needing her authorization.

I become aware of the fact my utensils are not like everyone else's. They gave me a wooden spoon, fork and knife. Do they think I'm going to suddenly attack them with the silver, for goodness' sake? Or maybe they think I might sneak them back in the cellar and use them to dig a tunnel, who knows?

I am so hungry that I head for what's most nourishing first: the steak. With this damn wooden knife, I can't even begin to cut it. After two minutes of struggle, I quit. I somewhat angrily take the soup bowl and consume all its content. I don't stop there; I devour all the vegetables and potatoes. I feel like Ron. I fight with my steak for a minute more and abandon. I sit back in my chair and cross my arms. Draco, next to me, has barely touched his food.

In the meantime, nobody has spoken a word to me or truly acknowledged me, which is not a bad thing because it takes away the temptation to answer, and ultimately get killed, or worse, knowing the person at my left. They are having separate conversations according to whom they speak to, and I am stunned when I take the time to listen to them. Lucius and the blonde man in the red suit, which I gathered up is called Yaxley, are discussing their ways of taking over the Ministry of Magic, they even state the names of the persons they are going to curse to overrun their positions and make them follow their plans. Pius Ticknesse, the new minister, is part of the list of officials to be put under the Imperius.

The Lestrange brothers and Snape are in confabulation too. They are commenting the different measures the new administration of Hogwarts has put into order to terrorize the students as well as coerce them into their cause. I shudder when I hear the tortures and mistreatments they are now allowed to perform on the young pupils that question blood purity or Voldemort's all-powerfulness and hitlerian-like regime.

Don't they know I am able to hear them? What if I reported everything to the Order? That's when realisation dawns on me that they don't think I'll come out of here alive, they just take for granted that I'll be killed sooner or later, or be kept captive until the Order and every last good wizard on this Earth perishes.

I suddenly feel nauseated; my hope of getting away from here is becoming thinner and thinner as days pass. I even begin to question the fact they are still looking for me. Could they have abandoned already and continued life as if nothing happened?

The plates and empty bowls suddenly vanish from sight. They are replaced by small cheese plates, with at least five varieties in them. Rye bread accompanies the cheese. More wine makes its appearance. The men are getting drunker and drunker, I can see it in the way they talk, or more drawl on, and in the way they look at Bellatrix, Narcissa and me with growing lustful eyes. Lucius even needs to temper some saucy comments Yaxley and Rabastan make on his wife's appearance. Bellatrix can handle the remarks on her own, once they tell something like that to her they don't do it again. She shuts them up quickly enough. I still play mute.

While I stick to two glasses of wine only to keep my senses with me, she is getting quite drunk herself. She begins whispering into my ear of things she would like to do to me, in a low, drunk, wanting to be sensual voice: among them, lick me, make me scream, orgasm and nastier stuff, like dominating me or 'screwing me hard'. I pray that no one else hears her. It's quite embarrassing for me. She then keeps talking about things she would like _me _to do to her, like eating her out or fucking her with my fingers. She is very explicit. She is too obscene to be real. I just want to scream NYMPHO at her, slap her and leave the scenery. But all I can do in a room full of Death Eaters is flush red and get dizzy from more alcohol to put my mind off what I'm hearing.

She unexpectedly gets hold of my left hand and pulls it towards the brim of her skirt. With a firm clutch on my wrist, she brings it up to the inside of her thigh and caresses her own leg in slow movements, using _my hand_. I skirmish noiselessly with as few movements possible to make her let go of me, without anybody noticing her little entertainment. She flicks her hand to rotate my wrist painfully, it's a silent threat: she could break it in two just by the force of her fingers. Reluctantly, I let my hand soften. She is now using it at her pleasure, moving my finger to circle her clit or bringing it along her slit. I am biting the inside of my cheek to keep from reacting.

I'm astonished everyone is too engrossed in their wine and their talk to notice her concealed movements under the tablecloth, even the ever perceptive Severus Snape. She's crazy enough to do such a thing with her husband just across the table, not that I exactly felt the love or sense of belonging between the two of them but still, it's unbelievable. I understand now why she wanted me to join them tonight; she gets her excitement with the thrill of possibly getting caught.

I look left and I see Narcissa is staring exactly at the spot where my hand is moving, under Bellatrix's skirt. She's close enough to see what's going on. She immediately asks everyone if they would excuse her, and rises from her seat. At that exact moment I feel Bellatrix's inner muscles spasm. She quickly lets go of my hand and I wipe it on the expensive velvet of my dress.

Narcissa throws a last long shocked look in our direction, before leaving the room rapidly, and taking Draco away with her.

Bellatrix watches her leave with a smirk on her face. The insane bitch doesn't seem to mind at all if the world knows what filthy things she is making me do, well at least if her sister knows.

She seems to decide it's time for her to retreat too, stands up, bids goodbye to Yaxley, Rabastan and Dolohov, but ignores Lucius, Snape and her own husband. She grabs my arm again, it seems her preferred way of controlling my comings and goings, and almost drags me out of the dining room because she walks too fast for me to have time to keep up.

When we arrive in front of the cellar, the place I least want to go back in the whole world, she slides inside, goes down the stairs with me, slams me on a wall and kisses me. Her breath smells strongly of alcohol as she sucks on my tongue and snogs me hard. I have difficulty keeping breathing. She pulls back and smiles, satisfied. A deranged, toothy smile.

"Goodnight, pet." She says to me almost tenderly. She strokes my cheek, and leaves, turning her back on me, not expecting me to attempt anything, which I don't. Before closing the door, she laughs, and I'm not sure if I like the sound of it or if I'm scared of it.

I let myself slide down the wall and into the dirt that has become my bed for the last eight days. I close my eyes and wait for sleep to come, beaten.

xXxx

**A/N****: Is this wrong? Probably. Do I like what's wrong? Certainly.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N : ****graphic sex, don't like don't read (it won't always be this way so better take it as it passes ;P)**

**xXxx**

_It's not like I made my__self a list  
Of new and different ways to murder your heart  
I'm just a painting that's still wet,  
If you touch me I'll be smeared  
You'll be stained  
Stained for the rest of your life_

_So turn around, walk away  
Before you confuse the way we abuse each other  
If you're not afraid of getting hurt  
Then I'm not afraid of how much I hurt you_

_I'm well aware I'm a danger to myself  
Are you aware I'm a danger to others?  
There's a crack in my soul  
You thought was a smile_

_~M. Manson, Leave a Scar~_

_-x-_

A wet gust of air goes through my body. I shiver and sneeze. It is sure enough that I have gotten a cold by spending so much time in this far too humid cell on this soggy earth ground.

Damn it, I thought that if I didn't finish this year alive, it would at least be by losing life in battle, not by catching pneumonia in the Malfoy household. I hit my head against the mucky wall…1….2…3.

Am I ever going to get out of here?

I'd like to just go mental and don't feel despair anymore. 1…2…3

I used to enjoy having moments to myself before, to think about life, my future, anything. Here I am quite alone, but the time I have to think is useless. It just drives me crazy.

And again…1…2…3. I want to go numb from the pain. It's better than feeling nothing.

"Well, well, Granger."

I slowly look up to see my captor hovering over me, arms crossed, heavy-lidded eyes half-closed in concentration.

"Is this really how you use up your time? If you feel like turning the hate back on yourself, might as well go all the way, take this piece of broken glass and slice it through your delicate maiden skin. That's how I did it when I was in Azkaban. Cut to get through." She smirks.

"Oh, are you bringing back up your old cherished memories, Lestrange, or do you just want someone to feel sorry for you?" I ask in a mock-interested voice.

Lestrange shrugs and her smirk widens. She is calm, too calm, I don't like it.

"I am just giving a free piece of advice to you, coming from someone experienced, you know?"

"You can bloody well keep your recommendations for yourself…"

"I don't understand you, girl. You cry for the whole week like a child in arms because you feel _lonely _– she accentuates the word with a fake sob – and when I graciously come to visit you, you do everything to put me off."

"That's because I much prefer no company at all then yours." I say assertively. She doesn't seem to want to pick up my insult.

"And how do you know anything about my feelings? – I continue- Have you been watching my every movement? Shouldn't you be actually _doing _something useful for your cause?"

"I… _We_ are doing plenty. You wouldn't actually believe the progress we made if you saw it with your own eyes. You've been away from the world for a little over two weeks, right Granger? Well in that time, enough has changed in our favour that you wouldn't even recognize the way of life you're used too." Her eyes glint madly with her dogmatic flame.

"I know why you're saying 'we'. It's because _you _have actually done _nothing_. You can't be seen anywhere in the daylight because everyone knows the viper you are. You're stuck here and you just spend your days waiting for the epiphany you know, deep down, will never come. You're pathetic."

She grips her wand tighter, so tight it appears like she's bending it. I can feel she wants to punish me for my impertinence, but something holds her back. I have no idea what; I certainly did enough to prompt this kind of reaction from her. I'm dumbfounded.

She suddenly slides her wand back into her pocket and stalks near me instead. She grabs the front of my soiled dress and single-handedly, with imposing force, pushes me up against the wall. Before I get the time to catch my spirits, her mouth is at my neck biting softly into the fragile flesh. She feverishly tweaks one of my nipples over the smooth fabric of my dress. I gasp, a mix from pleasure and pain. Her dark eyes shoot up to meet mine, and suddenly she draws back, ashamed or bewildered, I don't know. Even in her most passionate state, she's controlled, and just now, she was completely abandoned. She is visibly stunned to detect this new trait in herself.

Her hands fall on the sides of her body, she looks at the floor, seemingly in interrogation. She then shakes her head and notices I am watching her closely. She looks suddenly embarrassed that I witnessed her odd behaviour. I feel strangely bad for her and I attempt to dismiss the malaise her attitude created.

"May I… may I take a shower please?" My voice has lost its aggressiveness and I try to show humility, to please her.

"Yes…" She answers quietly, her eyes almost thankful for my change of subject.

"Follow me." She motions towards the stone stairs.

I gather the sides of my dress around me and follow in her footsteps. The destination is the same as the week before: the no-window, cleared of objects bathroom I used the other day. She leaves me alone as soon as we get to the door; she seems in a hurry to go away. Half an hour later, I hear a knock on the door. I quickly step out of the water, pull on the drain and wrap a towel around me before saying: "Come in." I quickly fix my wet hair as much as I can before waiting for the door to turn on its hinges.

Bellatrix wears a deep v-cut velvet and lace black dress, a corset hugs her waist and goes down from bellow her breasts to cover her abdomen. Her ringlets of dark hair are untamed and wild, as ever, and her smirk is tinted plum. I instantly see that she is back to herself again, it makes me smile, almost.

"Had a nice bath? Of course it would take more than one to wash the filthy wench you are but…"

I cut her off. "I'm almost relieved to see you're back to normal."

"So you do like me in some way, I understand."

Our conversation is almost a friendly banter. I wouldn't have believed it if I had been told merely a week ago that I would be able to feel at least vaguely comfortable in the presence of the deranged (maybe not so much) Bellatrix Lestrange, but now we seem almost at ease with each other, in a weird, undeclared sort of way.

"I think it's only that you scare me much less when you're your usual, moody self."

She wants to look offended but she doesn't quite manage to. She's smiling through her grimace.

"I think you're becoming a little too snug with me, little girl. I'll have to drill some discipline into you."

I smile. Somehow the thought doesn't seem so awful now that she quit her habitude of crucioing me.

"Yes, maybe I need it." I wink at her. I'm becoming a totally different person than I was with her before, I'm not sure how to explain it, but somehow, someway, she has touched my heart.

"Would you like to go for a walk outside?" The proposal is so nice and innocent that it looks out of place, coming from her mouth.

My eyes widen in surprise, but also delight.

"Really? I would appreciate it so much. I terribly miss the daylight."

She nods and gives me a fresh pair of jeans, a tank-top and a jacket. She has the courtesy to turn her back to me while I get dressed.

"Very well. Come." She says softly. She takes my arm but not as harshly as she had done other times, it's firm but painless.

We walk down the main corridor and turn left. A door beside the staircase shows a path leading to the garden. We walk on the green grass and I breathe in deeply. It feels so good being outdoors. I had not realised how much I had missed the large expanses of forest and the wildlife I had been surrounded with when I was with my two friends. Smelling the fresh air had become second nature to me and it feels like I have come home again. The autumnal wind is cool, without being unpleasant.

Bellatrix has let go of my arm and I am amazed at her trust in me. It's true I don't have a wand and my chances of escaping, even here, are slim, but knowing how she usually is, it represents a lot.

We stroll until we arrive at the far side of the field, and can touch the leaves of the large tidy hedge. Wind catches in my curls and Bellatrix pulls a strand of chestnut hair behind my ear. We walk back, taking the long turn around the whole grounds, and arrive near to the brick wall on the left side of the mansion.

Our gazes lock and it's as if we both know we want the same thing. I come nearer, she does too, and to my own surprise, I am the one who makes the first step. I put a hand around her neck and kiss her, tentatively at first, then with assurance. She moans (it's the first time I hear such a sweet sound coming from her) and nibbles on my bottom lip.

She is the best kisser I ever came across. I don't have that much experience, but for having snogged at least two other people in my life, I can compare, and she's undoubtedly the best. Her hands trail down my back and on my sides, halting at my hips and squeezing them. One of her hand travels down my bun possessively. I keep my hands safely on the frame of her shoulders, not sure if she feels like being groped.

She leans into me and whispers into my ear. "Do you want me to do the things I told you the other night?" She is smiling. The question is not that direct but it brings a blush to my cheeks. I feel grateful that she is asking for my agreement, for once. "Maybe some of them, yes."

"Which ones?" She breathes hotly into my ear, sending shivers of anticipation running up and down my spine. Her full breasts are pushing into my own smaller ones. "Tell me… exactly…exactly what you want me to do to you." Her black eyes are shining with warmth and arousal. I feel like I am drowning in them when I look for too long.

"Touch me…" I say in a still timid, low voice.

"Wheeeere?" Her voice is inviting and sultry, it's the definition of eroticism.

"Hmmm. Here." I manage to say even though my brain lacks more and more in sense the more I listen to her. I take hold of her hand and bring it near the apex of my thighs. She groans in excitement. And kisses me, her tongue is intoxicating and I feel I could die if she let go. She presses her palm into me, over my jeans, and I need to support myself by holding her neck.

I bend my head back as she sucks on my pulse point. The pressure of her hand into me is making me quiver and heat up. I roll my hips instinctively, needing more. She pushes her index finger into my mouth while she unbuttons my jacket with her other hand. I suck on the finger greedily. She likes the submission she is getting from me and moans again.

"Good girl." She says into my ear and sucks on my earlobe. "Aaah." I moan when she discovers this new erogenous zone. She is sliding the jacket down my arms and it falls on the ground without a sound. She puts her hands on my buttocks again and plays with them. She is driving me mad from lust. "Please." I mutter, my mind hazy. "Please, Bella."

She seems to approve of the nickname as she squeezes one of my breasts over my tank-top.

"Please… what?" She is so beautiful when she makes me beg like that, and I can't help but liking the feeling of need she is raising in me. "Please fuck me."

"Wanton slut. I love when you say that word." She trails her fingers on the side of my face and over my mouth. "Say it again."

"Please, Bella, fuck me."

"Mmm, as you wish." Time for dirty talk has passed when she quickly rolls down my jeans and throws them away. Fresh air hits my burning thighs. The contrast of temperature turns me on even more. I breathe in the exotic prune scent of my lover's hair as she pulls my tank-top over my head.

"I can see skin -she says- it's much better." She drops kisses on my ribs, it's a tickling and arousing sensation, and licks my belly button. She is skilled, very skilled. Her head lifts up to face my nipples and she engulfs one into her mouth, sucking on it avidly. She licks her way to the other and teases it with her tongue. The want overcomes my entire body and I don't think I will last very long if she doesn't cut the foreplay.

Luckily she had the same inspiration and while I press myself tightly against the cold brick wall, loving the feeling on my aflame back, she dips two fingers inside the edge of my panties. She slowly grazes over my swollen folds and that's how I actually discover how wet I am. Her fingers are covered in my love liquids and she smears them over my lips. "Taste yourself."

I do so and she cleans the fingers in her own mouth afterwards. She positions herself at my entrance, spreads my lips softly and finally pushes inside. The sensation in my core surpasses the feelings of elation in my brain. I mouth an "O" sound as Bella starts moving inside me. It is the best thing I've ever felt. There is no pain as she gradually makes place for a third finger and slides in and out at a steady, fast rhythm.

My voice is a blur of moans that she covers by deeply kissing me. As she penetrates my mouth with her tongue and my center with her fingers, I feel complete. It's when she brings her thumb down on my bud that I finally climax, releasing all my juices. She keeps stroking me until I come down from the high, and finally withdraws. That's when I collapse on the ground in a heap. My vision is unstable and my whole body glows.

It takes a few more minutes before I can breathe normally again. Bella kisses the top of my hair and rests her head close to mine. "You're crying." She says worriedly as she wipes a single tear off my cheek. "Happy tears." I answer, smiling up at her. She kisses my cheek.

"Bella?" I ask, waiting for her attention.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"It was true what you said. This was better than I could ever have imagined."

**xXxxx**

**Virtual Christmas ****tree shaped cookies for reviewers ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

_No teasin'__  
You waited long enough.  
Go deep,  
Imma throw it at ya'  
Can't catch it.  
Don't hold back,  
You know I like it rough.  
Know I'm feelin' ya' huh.  
Know you liking it, huh._

_So why you standing over there with ya' clothes on,  
Baby strip down for me, go on take'em off.  
Don't worry baby,  
Imma meet you halfway,  
Cause I know you wanna see me._

_No heels,  
No shirt,  
No skirt,  
All I'm in is just skin.  
No jeans,  
Take'em off,  
Wanna feel your skin.  
You a beast, oh.  
You know that I like that.  
Come on baby,  
All I wanna see you in is just skin._

_All in baby,  
Don't hold nothing back.  
Wanna take control,  
Nothing wrong with that.  
Say you liking how I feel,  
Ain't gotta tell me that.  
Just put your skin baby on my skin._

_~ Rihanna, Skin~_

-x-

The Dark Lord's most faithful follower is sitting in an armchair, immersed in her thoughts. Her fingers are strumming softly on the oak desk she is leaning on, her dark hair cascading over her shoulder and falling between her breasts. Her frown indicates something troubles her, but her slightly pouty lips show it is not a subject of irritation, just of contemplation.

A silent shadow arrives from a corner of the room and stops at her right. "Bella…" The voice of Narcissa Malfoy comes to her ears and she feels a hand resting on her back. "You seem to be miles away. Is something on your mind?" Bellatrix looks up at her sister and sighs.

"Yes, there is, Cissy. But I don't know if I should tell you, it might put you in a rage and I don't need that right now."

"Listen, you're free to tell me Bella. I won't get furious and if I do I'll keep it for myself and not bother you. What's worrying you?"

"It's very peculiar… but I find that I am more and more drawn to our prisoner's company. I've never felt as much need to be in someone's presence in a long, long time."

Narcissa brings her hand to her mouth. "Don't tell me you're falling for the girl, Bella!"

Bellatrix shakes her head and leans back in her chair. "No, don't make such hasty conclusions, sister. I just said I appreciate her more than I would have thought… I think… I may be starting to respect her, not what she is, but _who _she is."

"You need to pull those awful, awful ideas out of your mind Bella. Respect her, and then what? You can't respect the ones you're trying to eradicate."

Bellatrix rises from her seat. "It's not nice to berate your own sister Narcissa. I do as I deem fit."

"Well you deem wrong." Narcissa grumbles between her teeth. Bellatrix doesn't hear her. She has already left the room.

xXx

The memory of what happened last night keeps coming back in my head. It had all been sweet and tender, for a moment. The dream didn't last long. I was brought back into my cell, with no supplementary favour treatment. But for the first time since my capture, I don't want to leave that much.

I want to investigate what has developed between me and Bellatrix. I need to understand why it has turned out this way between us, went from pure mutual loathing to a form of understanding, and maybe some fondness. I don't feel as miserable anymore, I found some hope in this thorny situation.

I stand up and pace around the shady room, my legs are starting to get numb. After a few minutes, I hear a shifting noise at my left: Bellatrix is half-laying half-sitting on the last stair, in a somewhat cat-like position. Her eyes even sparkle in a feline kind of way. She gives me a smile that shows a lot of her teeth, before nimbly standing up and walking up to me.

"What we're you thinking about?" She asks, smiling.

"You…" Having her so near almost makes my heart flutter.

"Lovely subject." She leans down to kiss me, being a few inches taller than I am. I answer her kiss eagerly; it's what I've been thinking about all morning. She pulls back.

I look up at her, very serious. "Bellatrix, can I ask… what does this mean to you exactly?"

"What does what mean?"

"Does it mean something… the kisses we share, how you made love to me last night… _this_?" I ask taking her hand and kissing it.

She removes her hand from mine.

"There's nothing to talk about. I think you're a very attractive girl, I fucked you, we had a pleasant time, end of." Her eyebrows are raised and she doesn't seem to be joking.

"So you're saying you just manipulated me by playing nice, only to get into my pants?" I ask, livid.

"Oh, stop looking for meanings and reasons everywhere, you're not at school! I acted the way I acted with you because that's how I wanted to act. I think, for your own sake, you'd better enjoy the fact I am being generous with you. Or do you prefer to go back to how it was before? I thought we were making progress here, that you had understood your place. Besides, I don't need to 'play nice' to claim you, I do whatever I want in this house."

I turn my back to her. She's such a bitch and I fell right into her trap. I hate myself!

"Go away." I tell her, my fists clenched.

"What?" Her voice is threatening and low.

"Leave me alone!" I clench and unclench my fists, trying to control my anger.

She grabs my arm hard enough to bruise and turns me toward her.

"I think you're forgetting who I am." Her eyes are shooting daggers.

"Don't worry, I'm not. You're either someone very fucked up or a very bad liar. I saw truth in your eyes yesterday when you made love to me. My feeling is that there is more to it than what you would like to give away!"

"And what if there is, it's a mistake. You don't belong here and you can be nothing more to me than a good fuck. It's how it's supposed to be and it's how it will stay." She accentuates every word to drive the point home.

"Fine! I won't ask anything about the feelings that could still exist in your heart of stone anymore. I'll let you deal with your own stupidity." I quickly go the farther away from her I can in this reduced space and sit on the floor, ignoring her presence.

"Who do you think you are? Aren't you forgetting who is in state of power here?"

"It's you, always you, Bellatrix. Go ahead, do what you want, but it doesn't concern me anymore."

"I'll make you regret your nerve."

"If you wish." I'm still not looking at her. I try to stay brave but in reality, I'm terrified. I don't know how excessively she can react and to what extreme she can actually go. Something tells me, though, that I can allow myself more slackness than before with her.

She hasn't yet moved.

"Well… I'm waiting… Aren't you going to produce a crucio or anything?"

I don't know if it's the best idea to taunt her but I can't stop myself. I think I'm becoming a little too foolhardy.

I still hear her breathing and I know she's angry but she isn't doing anything at all. It's so unlike her that I need to look back. She's just standing there looking at me. Her hands are on her sides, her wand outstretched, but she doesn't look like she's planning on using it.

"Bella?"

A single tear falls from the corner of her eye.

"Bella?" I stand up and am irresistibly drawn to her. As weird as it is, I don't like seeing her in pain.

"I… I don't feel like it."

The fact she doesn't feel like torturing me appears to be enough to upset her.

"I've never felt incapable of anything before, but I just can't hurt you now."

She looks directly into my eyes, her own are shining from pent-up emotion.

"Have you considered that it's for the reason I've told you before? There is more to it than what we thought; we may have begun to feel… something for each other." I am surprised at how confident my voice sounds, I want her to admit she feels the same, it's vital for me to have this assurance.

"Hermione… I don't know. It's so… unlikely. Falling in love is a foreign notion to me. It's not something I thought I'd experience again. I fear this type of things has become awkward for me. I don't know if I'm brave enough to do this."

"I do. And it's as awkward for me as it is for you. We are supposed to be enemies. It's the most confusing thing that has ever happened to me. It would be better to blame it on the fact I've gone mad, but I know that's not it."

Bellatrix chuckles at that.

"And I thought I was already mad." She caresses the back of my hand with her finger.

"Bella?"

"Yes?"

"Would you spend the night with me?"

"It would be my pleasure." She smiles softly and I have no doubt believing it is the most beautiful sight on this earth.

Xxx

A wand waves with a short flick to produce a bed from a piece of wood that is lying on the floor. A body is gently pushed towards the mattress and settles itself on it. Another body joins the first and clothes are peeled of the two. The second figure sits astride the first uninhibitedly. Chests are pushed against one another as hands settle on hips. Lips crash together as brown hair are grasped in passion. Bodies link in a timeless embrace, covered in a sheen of sweat. Body parts connect in a blind moment of desire. The bonding dance is repeated again and again during the hours of darkness, until both souls, satiated, let themselves fade into the night.

_**:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**_

_**TBC… Please review…**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**This is now my story with the most reviews, favs and alerts, so thank you a lot.**_

_**Xxx**_

_You're not easy to love  
You're not easy to love, no  
You're not easy to love  
You're not easy to love, no  
Why is everything with you so complicated  
Why do you make it hard __to love you  
Oh I hate it  
Cause if you really wanna be alone  
I will throw my hands up cause baby I tried  
But every day with you is so complicated  
Oh why_

_Sometimes I get you  
Sometimes I don't understand  
Sometimes I love you  
Sometimes it's you I can't stand  
Sometimes I wanna hug you  
Sometimes I wanna push you away  
Most times I wanna kiss you  
Other times punch you in the face  
Cause every minute you start switching up  
And you say things like you don't give a f*ck  
Then I say I'm through with you  
Take my heart from you_

__~Rihanna, Complicated~

-x-

I emerge from under a rumpled sheet, my brown hair tousled. I turn my head to the right, where I recognise tender black eyes looking at me. Bellatrix is so beautiful: her skin is fair with a peachy colour, her locks of dark hair frame her face perfectly and produce an eye-catching contrast. I smile and am welcomed with a morning kiss.

"Morning." Bellatrix says softly, her voice a little hoarse after having just emerged from sleep.

"Good morning, indeed. You are a wonderful sight to wake up to." The compliment comes spontaneously to me.

It isn't exactly a flush that appears on Bella's cheekbones, but they take on a somewhat ruby colour that is just too appealing. I can't resist kissing her cheek, which makes the colour darken.

"And you stayed."

Bellatrix nods her head. "I stayed."

I hug her, thankful that she has not left my side while I was asleep. It is the last proof I needed to be persuaded of her affection.

My eyes fall on the part of the sheet that is covering her bosom. I become very conscious of the fact we are both still naked. I extend my finger, tentative, to crook it around the edge of the white sheet.

"May I look at you?" I ask, making sure Bella won't be offended.

"Yes, you may." Bella shows a mischievious smirk.

I smile, glad I am allowed to feast my eyes on the goddess-like body. I pull down the sheet until it is resting just above her hip, and trace the shape of Bella's side with a finger. I sigh in contemplation. The full breasts that are visible are just fascinating to me. I want to caress the pale globes. I want to taste them again, but I resist for the moment, wanting to remember every crease, every curve, every beauty mark on my lover's body, just with my eyes. I find one on Bella's neck and kiss it, and another one above her navel, where I repeat the same movement.

Bellatrix chuckles, surprised by my comical attitude.

"It tickles. What are you trying to do?" If her tone seems scolding, the smile that goes with it breaks the illusion.

"I'm making memories for when I'll need them in the future. I know something such exquisite as this cannot last forever. I'm being provident."

Bellatrix raises an eyebrow, visibly not of the same point of view.

"You're singular, but endearing." She decides.

"Yep, that's me. I won't tell you what you are though."

She nudges me in the ribs. "You won't tell me because it's bad, is that it?" She has a sparkle in her eyes and a curious grin on.

"Not exactly, but I prefer to stay safe and not tease you, you'd have to discipline me again." I give her my best pout.

"You better. Or else big, bad Bella will make one bite of you." She presses a finger on my nose lightly, and then kisses me.

I cuddle into her, resting my head in the crook of her neck, her curls are tickling me.

After a few minutes of euphoria, I feel like talking again. "Bella? Do you sometimes think about the future?"

She frowns. "Yes, a little. The future is something that scares me. I don't think one destiny is meant for one person. Every choice we make can weigh in the balance, so when we are confronted with a decision, the result can change our life, a certain turn in events can lead to a totally unforeseen situation."

"I guess you wouldn't like Professor Trelawney too much, she always repeated divination could tell us our fate and that the outcome of everything was predestined. I thought her classes were rubbish actually."

"I think predictions of certain events can be made, it has been proven in the past and it still happens today, but a slight detail that is modified can demolish the whole hypothesis."

"I sometimes think of how my life could be, ten years from now. I can't see clearly what I would like it to be. But I think I would like to have a home of my own, children…"

"I had a child before."

The revelation escapes Bellatrix's mouth before she realises it. I can see she immediately regrets it, because she covers her mouth with her hand and looks petrified.

I put my hand on her shoulder, comforting.

"You had a child? How come? What… happened?" I hope she won't tell me the child got killed or something tragic of the sort.

"I… I abandoned it." Bella looks at me and I can see the guilt reflected in her eyes.

"Can I ask… why?" I'm cautious with my choice of words, I don't want to upset her, but I am very curious to learn such a big truth from her past.

She seems to hesitate responding for a while, but when she sees the encouragement I am giving her, she starts.

"It was a long time ago. It was a child of love, not my husband's. The consequences would have been terrible if the whole story had been discovered."

"Couldn't you have made it pass as if it was your husband's child?"

"No. You see, from the moment I married Rodolphus, I made it clear to him that I wouldn't associate with him in the bedroom. He was free to see whom he liked in private and it was the same for me too, it didn't cause any problem as long as we were discreet. I declared infertility so people wouldn't find it suspicious that we didn't produce an heir. When I became pregnant, I had to hide it, it would have brought dishonour on both our family names, and a hurricane would have started that we would not have been able to control. I did what I had to do to keep up the appearances. I used a concealment charm during more than 6 months to hide my distended belly. I had to do everything as I would normally have. It was painful, very painful. When I had the baby, I gave it up to a muggle birth clinic anonymously. I never heard any news of it since." She has tears in her eyes by the end of her sentence.

"Did someone know?" I feel my eyes sting too when I see her regretful face.

"Not a soul, I managed to keep it from my sister, my parents, everyone."

The memory of what she has been through makes her emotional. I take her hands in my own and squeeze them, wanting her to continue emptying her heart's contents.

"You must have been terribly lonely and lost." I stroke her shoulder to convey my understanding.

"It happened during dark times. I couldn't raise a child in the circumstances I was in. I lived for only one thing, serving the Dark Lord. It was my destiny, you see, the one my parents chose for me and that I chose too, even if I could have changed it."

"Who was the father Bella? Can you tell me?"

I see her bottom lip trembling before she reveals the name of the man she had loved, but lost forever: "Evan. Evan Rosier."

I bring a hand to my mouth in surprise. Evan Rosier. It was the man who had been killed by Moody in the First wizarding war, just before I was born. It was said he had been a skilled duellist, a fierce combatant. A very handsome man, too. Rosier. I think about the name for a while. It is somewhat familiar to me but I can't pinpoint where I heard it. I gasp when the memory comes back.

"Rosier, wasn't that your mother's maiden name? I read it somewhere."

"Yes, you're so perceptive I can't keep anything from you for too long. He was also my cousin. This was another reason that, to top everything, made it impossible for me to be with him in the open."

"You loved him, Bella?" My eyes are fixed on her and I am giving her my undivided attention.

Her voice breaks when she answers. "Yes, Hermione, yes. It was perhaps the only man I ever loved. It's why I told you I don't do well with feelings. I thought I could not love anyone after him."

"You changed your mind, though?" I am hopeful when I ask.

"_You _changed my mind." She smiles with some difficulty, and enfolds me in her arms.

She kisses the top of my head, and strokes my hair, until I gradually fall back into sleep.

Xxx

When I wake up, nobody is there, but clean clothes are folded in a pile on her side of the bed. I stand up and quickly put on the jeans, t-shirt and sneakers.

I yelp when I turn around and see the cold eyes of Narcissa Malfoy looking at me as if they are attempting to see through my soul. She is two meters away from me and stands stiff like a statue.

"Bloody Merlin, Mrs. Malfoy, you scared me to death!"

"Oh, please accept my apologies." She says sarcastically. "But I came here to help you, so you shouldn't blame me for too long."

"You? Help me? Somehow I don't see how that's possible."

It's the first time she comes into my cell. I really don't see what she's looking for here.

"I have resources you don't know about, Miss Granger. This house is mine, I have access to what you don't."

"And what, if I might ask, may that be?"

"The key to freedom." She states simply.

I gaze wide-eyed at her.

"You're kidding. You're not really offering to…"

"Release you, yes." She folds her hands together.

"No. It can't be. You're on their side. You wouldn't do that." I find it extremely improbable that she would do such a thing.

"You don't know me very well, do you? But I know you, I know what you can do with the Chosen One, and my interest is that you succeed in doing that." Her voice is grave.

"You want the Dark Lord to fail? Do you realise that, if he knew that, you'd be killed automatically?"

"He won't know. I'm setting you free. I'll have an excuse made-up for this 'mistake'. And then you'll do… what you have to do, to succeed."

"I…I don't know what to say."

I am in the midst of a problematic situation. On one end, I don't want to leave Bellatrix's side, and on the other end, I want to go back to Ron and Harry and put a end to this unending war between good and evil. I deeply want to achieve killing Voldemort.

"Say nothing, and hurry up. We have limited time until my sister or my husband comes back. We're alone now, but it won't last."

"I don't think I can leave without saying goodbye to Bellatrix."

"For heavens! Don't you get it that my sister is using you? She doesn't love you, and she won't let you leave from here, you have my word on that."

"Maybe she hasn't offered to set me free yet, but I believe her when she tells me she cares for me."

"How silly are you really? She did the same thing to hundreds of girls before you. She makes them fall in love with her, than she uses them, abuses them and leaves them for dead. My sister doesn't have feelings. People are toys for her and she throws them away like rag dolls when she's finished sucking the last bit of humanity out of them."

"You're lying. It can't be true." I shake my head, not wanting to believe her.

"Don't you know anything at all? Haven't you learned how she tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom to _insanity_, and was sent in jail for it? Don't you know she, herself, lost every last ounce of kindness, compassion and judgment during her thirteen years of imprisonment? That she killed her cousin to accomplish a personal revenge and _laughed_ about it afterwards?"

"I know all those things, but I think she feels guilt for them, that it isn't the main part of her that perpetuated those horrifying acts, and that, with help, the good could outrun the evil in her."

"If you really think so, then you're a lost cause. If dying in a pool of your own blood, with the finger marks she left on you and your brain an incoherent mass of cells is what you wish, then I withdraw my offer right away and I won't try to help you again Miss Granger. After all, it's your decision."

My mind is running madly. This chance is something that may happen to me only once. I decide I have to take it, for my sake and the sake of Harry and Ron, and for what we are fighting for.

"Alright, I'll let you help me. What am I supposed to do?"

"Come, stay close behind me."

I follow her up the stairs and through three long corridors until we reach a small austere study.

"This is a portkey." She tells me, pointing toward a set of quills. "When you'll take them, you'll be transported to a forest in northern Scotland, from where you will be able to apparate."

"I don't have my wand."

"I have it." I see the piece of vine wood I held for so many years and that has become a part of me, like a complete body part. I missed it terribly; I have been dependant of it since the moment I became a witch. I extend a hand to touch it.

"Wait. I must make sure you won't attack me first." She takes out her own wand, casts a Protego around herself and then gives the wand to me.

"Thank you Mrs. Malfoy. I won't forget what you just did for me and the risks you've taken."

"Farewell." She says, taking a step back.

I seize the quills in my hand and feel the world spin around me before vanishing into nothingness.

_**::::TBC… Please Review…**_


	7. Chapter 7

**This chapter is dedicated to my muse, Liz.**

**Xxxx**

x

X

x

_I can't remember when it was good_  
_moments of happiness elude_  
_maybe I just misunderstood_

_all of the love we left behind_  
_watching the flash backs intertwine_  
_memories I will never find_

_so I'll love whatever you become_  
_and forget the reckless things we've done_  
_I think our lives have just begun_  
_I think our lives have just begun_

_and I'll feel my world crumbling_  
_I'll feel my life crumbling_  
_I'll feel my soul crumbling away_  
_and falling away_

_falling away with you_

_~Falling away with you, Muse~_

x

X

x

I end up on the ground with a loud clash. Pebbles and dirt cut through the skin of my palms and knees. I stay there, speechless, panting for a few minutes, trying to regain my focus. I finally use my knee as support to lift myself up, rubbing my sore back. Where am I? For God's sake. Where am I?

It's a forest… covered in snow. I suddenly discover I'm freezing. I transfigure my jacket into something thicker, that protects me from the wind.

"The only way to know where I am located is to exit from the woods." I tell myself, not sure if I spoke out loud or in my head.

"What do heroes in movie pictures do? Look for North?" I grab my wand and use a simple compass spell Snape had thought us.

"Well at least he was useful for something…"

I head where the pointer indicates : North. After maybe an hour of walk, a little weary and desperate to finally get out, I see the edge of the flocks of trees, they seem to stop there. I run towards the line of light and almost fall into a river coursing lower, at the periphery of the forest. It was a close call, the rocks don't seem too friendly from up here. And the water looks… arctic.

The whole place seems familiar though, not the place in itself, but the scenery. I can't help thinking I must be somewhere in the Scottish Highlands.

"Okay… I… don't know where to go from now on."

I sit down on a large mouldy log, by the white water.

I can't seem to think right, I still feel taken aback by what I just did, running away from Bella. Did I just run away from love? It's hard to say. My reason doesn't seem to agree with my heart on this.

I was sure I had seen it in her eyes, the longing she felt for me. But now that she's gone… that _I'm _gone, I can't recall if anything of it was real. I remember her touching me, I remember how good it felt, I remember begging her to do it again, and again, until nothing mattered anymore…

All of it vanished, the moment I took the quills in my hand. And what Narcissa had said, it was still confusing me, what if she was right? What if Bella was just using me?

I shake my head. No, it can't be. Bella loves me, I know she does, and I have never felt anything near to what I felt with her, with _anyone _before. If I believed in soulmates, that would be it. We would be it. But I left…I… left. The more I repeat it the worse I feel.

"I have to collect myself." I decide. I shouldn't be here rambling, I should be with Harry and Ron, and I should be with them _now_.

I know I can find them, if I put all my power to this task. I take a firm ground, placing my two feet level to my shoulders, and concentrate, deeply.

"You can do this." I tell myself. "Go ahead Hermione, find them."

Images of my two best friends' faces flood my mind. I see Harry smiling at me, his signature twinkle vibrant in his emerald eyes. I see Ron, his face freckled and his cheeks flushed, laughing about something our friend said. I turn on the spot. Nothingness overwhelms me, until I reappear to find new footing.

I am in another forest, though not on the hillside, the land here is rather even. I walk for a few feet before I hear voices that seem to be arguing with each other. I prick up my ears… they are male voices.

"Leave it! It's that damn thing again. You're an absolute git every time you wear it!" I hear a short distance away.

"Well I'd like to see YOU wearing it. You have an awful temper each time, but _I_ have the _decency _to say nothing about it."

"You just… Ah, I can't speak with you when you're this stuck up, Harry."

When I hear my friend's name, a huge smile spreads on my lips, and I sprint towards the sound of Ron's voice. I see them look back in alarm, aware of the sound of my footsteps on the split roots. I make my presence known.

"Boys! It's me! I've come back! I'm here, Harry! Ron!"

"Hermione!" Ron's powerful voice booms from the other side and Harry emits a loud roar of delight.

Soon, they have both reached me, and I jump into their arms, messing up Ron's hair and Harry's glasses in my elation. I abruptly start crying: "I missed you both so much." I cry out. "I can't believe we're finally reunited!"

"We were so scared for you, 'Mione. We thought, we thought…"

"We thought you were dead." Harry completes, ever the candid one.

"You did? Well you certainly had reasons to, I mean, I didn't think I would come out of it alive either."

"We traced the one who captured you, Greyback, but we were never able to find out where he had sequestrated you." Ron says, bewildered.

"You've got to tell us everything, Harry says, but we've got to find somewhere to put the tent up first, settle down some place else. We'll fetch dinner for you. Ron'll cook." He adds, for a tad of humour.

"Yea right mate, Ron says ironically, though I'd do it for you 'Mione, but my cooking is just… too awful."

"I know Ron, I know." I say grinning and I rest a hand on his back. "You're right Harry, let's go."

Xxxx

"You WHAT?" Lucius Malfoy has never been so furious, and that is saying quite something. His ordinarily pale complexion has departed, his cheekbones are tinted crimson. His wife Narcissa is looking down at her hands, avoiding his gaze for the moment.

"Once again, I will repeat myself Lucius. I discovered the prisoner has disappeared, how many times shall I reiterate? She's gone, she has vanished from sight, is nowhere to be seen, do you understand? I had nothing to do with it, I merely left for half an hour, and the cellar was empty when I came back."

"You want me to swallow this, that nothing happened even if the _prisoner escaped_!" Lucius is hissing his words, raised to his full height, looking rather imposing and menacing.

"What more can I say? This is an unfortunate situation but nothing can be done. You can howl all you want, it won't bring the hostage back. Nothing will. She was even bright enough to achieve removing the spells that kept her wand hidden. She must be miles away at this hour."

"So you're saying no one else was here, and you left the Manor open to attack?" Lucius Malfoy is visibly fighting an urge to break something or hit someone. He is breathing hard enough that one can see his Adam apple pulsating.

"Well, now you mention it, I didn't. I recall Pettigrew was here, I even asked him if I could leave the Manor under his guard, he said yes. I was certain everything was in order…" Narcissa Malfoy shakes the blame off on the rat-like man with such an ease that it seems foolish to contradict her.

"That… MAN. That revolting man, I'm going to break his neck this time."

"Please, Lucius no. The poor chap must have meant nothing by it, you know he has always demonstrated negligence. I just thought such an elementary task as watching over an extremely well locked door was in his list of abilities, but it was my own mistake. Please don't castigate him on my behalf."

"Cissy, let me deal with this. One thing is positive, he will hear from me, before he hears from the Dark Lord… That girl was a golden token towards the Boy, our Lord will not be pleased, oh no he won't." Lucius is holding his wand in his slender right hand and tapping impatiently on his left palm with it, looking like he is on the verge of sending a hex.

Narcissa puts a hand on his shoulder, he always needs to be calmed by her, she is his tranquility pill, always has been. "Now, now, dear husband. Wait it out, maybe in a few hours' time you won't be so heated about it. At least now, we have one thing less to worry about, don't you think?"

"I think not, my dear wife, I think we have plenty more to worry about now. But you are partially right, I'll take some time to ponder what has just taken place. I'll be in the drawing room, and shall not be bothered for _anything_, unless it is the Dark Lord, or the girl that has been brought back."

"Of course, my darling. No one will even consider disturbing you, I'll make sure of it." She displays for him her fake comforting expression, that he always takes for cash, and leaves him alone in the room. Interiorly, she is smiling.

Xxxx

_I kiss down my lover's stomach, halting to take special care of the beauty spot just above her navel._

"_It tickles. What are you trying to do?" Bellatrix asks me. If her tone seems scolding, the smile that goes with it breaks the illusion._

"_I'm making memories for when I'll need them in the future. I know something such exquisite as this cannot last forever. I'm being provident."_

_Bellatrix raises an eyebrow, visibly not of the same point of view._

"_You're singular, but endearing." She decides._

"_Yep, that's me. I won't tell you what you are though."_

_Bellatrix gasps and __leaps on me, pinning my wrists on top of my head. _

"_You won't tell me because it's bad, is that it?" She has a manic sparkle in her eyes and a ravenous grin on._

_I bite my lip to keep myself from laughing and turn cherry. I love it to be able to play without reservation with her like this. Bellatrix tightens her hold on me, squeezing my thighs between her own in a spider-like grip. I become aware of the lack of material separating us and of our entwined bodies so close to each other. I feel her nipples hardening against my own and warmth erupting between her legs. I moan, pulling her over me even tighter. _

_She__ reaches a hand between us and brings our sexes together. She gyrates her hips and I moan soundly, delirious with lust. Ah, ah Bella…_

"Ah!" I just hit my head on the bedpost, I hadn't realised my dream was so vivid that I had started moaning aloud.

I quickly glance to the other side of the tent, checking if the boys have been awoken by my noises. I'm relieved to see they haven't.

"God… I don't know what goes through me like this. I can't get my mind off her." I bring my legs close to my body, gathering all the warmth I can around me in my own little security bubble. I don't feel so safe now when I'm without her, which in itself is illogical because where she is is normally where the most danger awaits.

I must be a fool. Falling in love with the enemy, isn't that rule number one of the things _not _to do? I can hear Albus Dumbledore's voice ringing in my head: "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light". What he had said at the great feast at the beginning of third year had stayed engraved in my head forever.

It applied to her perfectly. In the dark times I had been through, even if she was a major source of my pain at first, she had been the light that had helped me survive the experience. The month I had spent locked up like an animal and regularly starved had not been the end of my sanity, because I had seen hope in her eyes. The troubled, perilous eyes of the deranged Bellatrix Lestrange had been my last link to reality, the little thread that connected me with freedom. The freedom that her sister, instead of her, has given me.

I will have a hard time forgetting that she didn't think about releasing me first. My nights will probably hold little sleep, until I figure out what I really meant to her, and what she means to me.

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_**TBC….Please Review**_


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